Color reproduction is an aspect of

color science Color science is the scientific study of color including lighting and optics; measurement of light and color; the physiology, psychophysics, and modeling of color vision; and color reproduction. History Organizations * International Commiss ...

concerned with producing light spectra that evoke a desired

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

, either through

additive Additive may refer to: Mathematics * Additive function, a function in number theory * Additive map, a function that preserves the addition operation * Additive set-functionn see Sigma additivity * Additive category, a preadditive category with f ...

(light emitting) or subtractive (surface color) models. It converts physical correlates of color perception ( CIE 1931 XYZ color space tristimulus values and related quantities) into light spectra that can be experienced by observers. In this way, it is the opposite of

colorimetry Colorimetry is "the science and technology used to quantify and describe physically the human color perception". It is similar to spectrophotometry, but is distinguished by its interest in reducing spectra to the physical correlates of color ...

. It is concerned with the faithful reproduction of a color in one medium, with a color in another, so it is a central concept in

color management In digital imaging systems, color management (or colour management) is the controlled conversion between the color representations of various devices, such as image scanners, digital cameras, monitors, TV screens, film printers, computer printer ...

and relies heavily on

color calibration The aim of color calibration is to measure and/or adjust the color response of a device (input or output) to a known state. In International Color Consortium (ICC) terms, this is the basis for an additional color characterization of the device ...

. For example, food packaging must be able to faithfully reproduce the colors of the foods therein in order to appeal to a customer. This involves proper color calibration of at least four devices: * Lighting, which must have a high

color rendering index A color rendering index (CRI) is a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reveal the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with a natural or standard light source. Light sources with a high CRI are desirable in ...

and not give a

color cast A colour cast is a tint of a particular colour, usually unwanted, that evenly affects a photographic image in whole or in part. Certain types of light can cause film and digital cameras to render a colour cast. Illuminating a subject with light s ...

to the object. * Camera, which

measures Measure may refer to: * Measurement, the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event Law * Ballot measure, proposed legislation in the United States * Church of England Measure, legislation of the Church of England * Measu ...

the reflected spectrum of the object and converts to a trichromatic color space (e.g.

RGB The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three addi ...

). * Screen, which reproduces color so a designer can proof the captured image and make color corrections as necessary. * Printer, which reproduces the final color on paper.

References

Further reading